Risk factors for heart disease
- Diabetes
- Smoking
- High blood pressure
- Poor blood cholesterol
- Obesity
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Age (men, age 45 and older; women, age 55 and older)
- Family history of heart disease
How can I lower my cholesterol?
Here are few tips for lowering cholesterol:
- Eat fewer fats and fried foods. Choose non-fat and low-fat versions of foods, if
available.
- When eating fats, select unsaturated fats. (Unsaturated fats are liquid at room
temperature –
vegetable oils, for example. Avoid tropical oils, such as palm and coconut
oil.)
- Choose fish and poultry more often than red meat.
- Limit total amount of meat, fish, poultry, and low-fat cheeses to 7 ounces or less each
day.
- Exercise.
- If you smoke, quit.
- Lose extra weight.
- Eat more soluble fiber. Good sources are fruits, beans, peas, and oats.
- Limit egg yolks to no more than three per week. (Egg whites are fat-free.)
Where can I learn more?
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
NHLBI Health Information Center
Attention: Web Site
P.O. Box 30105
Bethesda, MD 20824-0105
301-592-8573
240-629-3255 TTY
Fax: 301-592-8563
e-mail: NHLBIinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov
For all correspondence, please indicate that your request
results from your visit to the NHLBI website, www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health.